School: Rochester Prep will move 'immediately' to new building

December 08, 2017 12:01 AM

School officials say they are moving Rochester Prep to a new building over health concerns.

News10NBC first began looking into concerns over the chemical TCE being detected in the area of 690 St. Paul Street last month. After our reports, parents started questioning the school about health risks.. Earlier this week, students held a protest and some parents kept their kids home.

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Thursday night, ahead of a meeting with parents, school officials said they will "immediately" move the school to a new location. We're told that switch will happen by January 2.

"My kid's been in there since ninth grade," says Alicia Brock, parent. "She's in the 10th grade. Who's to say what will happen ten years from now."

Alicia Brock was among scores of parents who turned out to the meeting at Rochester Prep Thursday night. They wanted to learn more about the school's plan to handle the traces of the cancer causing chemical TCE discovered in the building at 690 St. Paul Street.

"I don't blame the school, I blame the owner of the building for not letting them know what's going on," she says.

Brock worries about the long-term health effects of this chemical. Parents learned Rochester Prep is moving the entire school to 1001 Lake Avenue in less than a month.

"I am very satisfied," says Tiffany Santos, parent. "It took them two days to figure this out. They got our kids out. There will be a new school January 2."

Tiffany Santos isn't worried. She says TCE is in everyday products. She's thankful for the schools swift action. The high school will close a week early for Christmas break. Although state health department officials say -- despite some higher levels detected this year -- they don't see a threat.

"So the levels that we see in the indoor air are well below any levels that are known to be associated with any sort health of effect and we don't expect there to be any issues at these levels detected."

"At first I was very concerned because the levels are elevated," says D'Netra Brooks, parent. "It's like saying how much poison is too much poison for your child? To me that's kind of a ridiculous question to ask... I am however proud of how Rochester Prep handled it and how they're moving are children swiftly into a new building."